By Gregorio Luke
Cinco de Mayo is the most popular Mexican holiday in the United States, yet sadly few people know what is really being celebrated. Some believe it is a commemoration of Mexican Independence; others see it simply as an excuse to drink margaritas and hear mariachis.
What we actually celebrate is a historic battle on the 5th of May 1862 during which a rag-tag Mexican army defeated the French invaders, then considered the most powerful army in the world. This victory is one of those rare occasions in history, where the weak defeat the powerful.
The Battle of Puebla boosted the morale of the Mexican people and left them with the conviction that an ultimate victory was possible. It gave a sense of pride to the Mexican nation that had been weakened by internal strife.
Seeing an easy prey in the poor and war-torn Mexico, the European powers found an opportunity to invade. Britain, Spain and France landed troops in Veracruz with the pretext of securing payment on pending debts. Spain and England withdrew, but France continued its pursuit.
The arrogance of Count Laurencez, commander of the French army, is evident in one of his letters to the French Minister of War: “We have over the Mexicans such superiority of race, organization, discipline, morals and elevated sentiments that I ask your Excellency to tell the Emperor that, from now on, at the head of his 6,000 soldiers, I am the master of Mexico.”
Yet, Count Laurencez was very much mistaken. Thirty-three year- old General Ignacio Zaragoza, and the staunch resistance of the Mexican people awaited him in Puebla. To the astonishment of the world General Zaragoza affirmed: “In Puebla we will lay the first stone that will liberate France of the servitude imposed on her by the bayonets of a tyrant.” The great French author Victor Hugo, encouraged the Mexicans in this manner: “Inhabitants of Puebla, I am on your side, it is not France that makes war on you, it is the empire. You and I fight against the empire, you in your homeland, and I from exile. Aim at the head of the enemy with the bullet of freedom, struggle, fight, do not give up.”
Laurencez was not expecting an organized resistance at Puebla. He thrust his forces in straight columns without cover, while the Mexican army fought from the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe. Following a novel strategy for the times, Porfirio Díaz, then a rising military officer, led cavalry attacks on the French flanks. The French attacks were repealed three times; hundreds of French soldiers lay dead on the Cerro de Guadalupe. The invaders retreated in disarray.
What was most surprising to the French invaders was that the entire civilian population descended upon them armed with farm implements and machetes “Hasta con Piedras” (even with stones) became the battle cry. According to legend, farmers, many of them Zacapoaxtla Indians, stampeded their cattle onto the French troops to create confusion and panic their horses.
The French soldier was considered the best in the world, but Puebla handed the French army its first defeat in decades. The Battle of Cinco de Mayo proved that no army however powerful can overcome a united and determined people.
Gregorio Luke is a lecturer and author, specialist in Mexican Art and Culture. He has organized exhibits, concerts, lectures, book and film festivals and seminars. Former Director of the Museum of Latin American Art. Former Consul of Cultural Affairs for the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles, Deputy Director of the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington D.C. and First Secretary of the Embassy of Mexico in Washington D.C.
Comic strip from The Nib explaining Cinco de Mayo: https://thenib.com/cinco-de-mayo-isn-t-what-you-think-it-is/